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FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary looks on during an NCAA college football game against Iowa in State College, Pa. McQueary, a key witness in the child sex abuse scandal that has engulfed the school, has been placed on administrative leave, school president Rod Erickson announced on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 (AP Photo/Gene Puskar, File)

Penn State fallout settles as gameday arrives

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — All the familiar sights and sounds of a football weekend at Penn State were on display: Crowded sidewalks and restaurants, fans dressed in the blue-and-white of their cherished Nittany Lions, scalpers pestering passers-by for extra tickets.

Something, however, was clearly missing.

Happy Valley is anything but these days.

“There’s no life here,” Homer Berlew said as he and his wife, Sandra, strolled the campus to take pictures Friday. “Nothing is being said. It’s like everyone’s in a daze.”

As the most tumultuous week in Penn State’s history came to a close, the university struggled with a child sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the school and cost football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier their jobs.

The board of trustees, in its first public meeting since firing Paterno and Spanier, began the process of repairing Penn State’s image by forming a committee to investigate the university’s failures to stop alleged sex abuse by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

The school faced a warning by the Moody’s credit rating company that its bond rating could be downgraded because of risks to its reputation and finances from the scandal.

The school also put wide receivers coach Mike McQueary — a key witness against Sandusky — on paid leave. It already had said McQueary would not be at today’s final home game against Nebraska because of “multiple threats,” and the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported that he has told players by phone that he was in a secluded location outside State College.

New president Rod Erickson plans to appoint an ethics officer, and said the school will review all standards, policies and programs to ensure they meet “not only the law, but Penn State’s standard.”

“I know we can do this. We are resilient; we are a university that will rebuild the trust and confidence that so many people have had in us for so many years,” said Erickson, formerly the provost.

Paterno’s son, Scott, meanwhile, released a statement saying his father had hired Wick Sollers, a high-profile criminal attorney.

While not the subject of any criminal investigation, the winningest coach in major college football wants “the truth to be uncovered and he will work with his lawyers to that end,” Scott Paterno said.

“My father is experiencing a range of powerful emotions. He is absolutely distraught over what happened to the children and their families. He also wants very much to speak publicly and answer questions,” Scott Paterno said. “At this stage, however, he has no choice but to be patient and defer to the legal process.”

Rather than the traditional “white out” for today’s game, fans were asked to wear blue — the color associated with child abuse awareness. Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania is selling T-shirts with a blue ribbon and the slogan, “Stop Child Abuse, Blue Out Nebraska.”

Sandusky, Paterno’s former assistant and onetime heir apparent, has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years, with several of the alleged incidents occurring on Penn State property. Sandusky reportedly helped recruit for the university as late as last year, according to a player from Greer (S.C.) High School.

Paterno and Spanier were fired because trustees felt they did not do enough to alert law enforcement authorities after an alleged assault in March 2002.

McQueary, a graduate assistant at the time, told the grand jury that he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy of about 10 in the showers at the Penn State football building. McQueary did not go to police but later told Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley and university vice president Gary Schultz, although it is not clear how detailed his description was.

Schultz, in turn, notified Spanier.

Curley and Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report the incident to authorities, as required by state law. They have maintained their innocence, as has Sandusky.

In announcing McQueary was placed on administrative leave, Erickson said that it had become clear the assistant coach “could not function in this role under these circumstances.”

State College police Capt. John Gardner said he does not expect problems at today’s game. Authorities are monitoring Facebook and Twitter, and Penn State’s residence life department is organizing group discussions for students to talk out their feelings about the week’s events.

The university implemented increased security measures for all athletic events this weekend, including a ban on bags — purses included — at all arenas, and Gardner said there will be a “significant police presence” at Beaver Stadium.

“I’ve got a lot of faith in this community,” Gardner said. “I’ve got a lot of faith in the vast majority of Penn State and I think they’re going to do the right thing this weekend and I implore them to do the right thing. Come out, show support for the victims of this terrible scandal and enjoy themselves at a football game.”

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